Abstract A market economy is characterized by a high degree of individual freedom over a wide range of economic activities. Individuals, the implementers of such activity, are, within a broad framework of legal and social constraints, free, singly or in consort, to enter or exit from enterprises of their choice. Further, they are largely free to distribute the resources they possess among alternative employments. Yet, because these resources are scarce and often versatile, any attempt to maximize their long- run contribution to society involves an allocation problem. Each resource holder making decisions regarding the timing and the employment of each resource held effectuates the allocation task. To achieve rational decisions it is reasonable to assume that the individual resource holder will have need for the factual data necessary to delineate and evaluate various alternatives. Commonly, in the case of capital, the resource allocation procedure will pass through several stages with the final step being the selection of an investment opportunity by individuals acting collectively.